8/31/2006

My IP number changed last night as I slept. Someone at Eagle stayed up last night and brought all the old Classicnet numbers into their system. I’ll never remember my new number, not that there is any reason I should, as it’s one of those random combinations that isn’t memorable. It looks like all the Eaglecom users will be listed from Hays, whereas with Classicnet, I’ve lived for a long time in some remote area of Texas.

The Cap Journal didn’t have much to say about Ellsworth in their preview notes: Four linemen return for ELLSWORTH (NCAA), which was 1-8 last year.

Minneapolis was the only team the Bearcats beat last season. They should win tomorrow night…they should win more than half their games this year.

8/30/2006

Charter schools can be a valuable reform and choice option. But they may not get better results. In fact, fourth-graders in traditional public schools scored an average of 5.2 points better in reading and 5.8 points better in math than students in charter schools, according to a U.S. Department of Education study released Tuesday.

“Public schools also stack up well against private schools, according to another department report released in July. That study found that, with the exception of eighth-grade reading, children in public schools performed as well as or better in reading and math than comparable fourth- and eighth-graders in private schools.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee of the Wichita Eagle Staff

“If Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., has a chance of getting the GOP presidential nomination, he needs to come out of the chute in Iowa looking strong. But a new poll of likely GOP Iowa caucus-goers published in the Des Moines Register puts Brownback at only 2.5 percent, tied with Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. That compares with 30 percent for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and 17.3 percent for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman of the Wichita Eagle Staff

Water is the lifeblood of the Kansas economy — and it’s by no means secure. This summer, Kansas streams had “less volume of water than at any time since records have been kept,” including the Dust Bowl years, said Steve Adams, natural resource coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Yes, the recent rains have helped, but the long-term picture is the same: Kansas continues to face drought conditions and must plan for its water resources with both conservation and farsighted development of resources, as our two-part editorial, Sunday and Monday, argued.

“Water is the big issue coming down the pike,” says Rex Buchanan, associate director of the Kansas Geological Survey. And it has “huge implications for this state that we’re not facing right now.”
Posted on “We Blog” by Randy Scholfield of Wichita Eagle Editorial Board

“Susan Wagle was put on the Barnett ticket to attract social conservatives. She is strictly the Kansans for Life liaison.

“However, what would happen if Barnett-Wagle was actually elected to office? Stop laughing. For the sake of discussion, assume that Barnett-Wagle wins. What role will Susan Wagle have in the administration?

“The current LTG was Sec of Commerce. As was LTG Gary Sherrer. LTG Shelia Frahm was Sec of Administration. These are all senior ranking cabinet positions, with huge staffs and huge budgets.

“Wagle’s pre-political experience was selling bingo sets. What can Susan Wagle possibly contribute to the administration? What can Susan Wagle possibly do?”

Remember Susan Wagle? “The Susan” who made charges against human sexuality KU prof Dennis Dailey? Most of the 500 students in Kansas University professor Dennis Dailey’s class on human sexuality were not offended by the subject matter or by Dailey’s provocative teaching style, but Susan was. If you want to read all about it, the Lawrence Journal World ran plenty of articles on the subject.

Kickoff time Friday night is 7:00 on EHS turf. Try to be there to support the team. We hope “Wright and Crew” have ample reasons to fire the cannon.

Ally and Todd are going to take Dane to the game. How he’s going to manage on the hill with his wheelchair remains to be seen. He’s never been on a steep incline before so I’m not sure how we’ll keep him from rolling past the stadium to downtown Ellsworth. It may take team effort to get him back up the hill. The last time he saw Tyler play was in the fall of 2004. That seems light years ago to me.

It has been delightfully cool the past couple of nights…perfect sleeping temps…windows open, fresh air wafting through the house.

It doesn’t seem like soup weather, but it’s never out of style around here. Dane will be here tomorrow and I have an appointment in Salina so Brit needs something easy to serve. Veggie soup is always a winner. They’ll like that.

I keep hearing rumors that Wendy’s is building across the highway from Casey’s. It’s only a rumor, but an interesting one to contemplate. I don’t think the franchise folk consider us large enough to warrant a restaurant like that, but time will tell.

Thanks for tuning in. I peeked at my Metapros account and it appears this will be another good month for hits.

8/29/2006

Somehow or other…I ended up in Lindsborg at Irene’s Teas this evening for dinner. It was one of the most delightful meals I’ve had in a very long time. It’s a small, personal restaurant and the food is excellent. It was fine dining without the hefty price tag. I highly recommend it. Check the menu on the link.

The city was sponsoring a back-to-school event for students in their downtown area. A treasure hunt was in progress for younger students and several bands were on the docket for the college students. It was a great idea and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I really think that is an idea we could adopt and close off one of the side streets downtown, have some bands for the kids, all you can eat ice cream and whatever else they would enjoy. It’s something to think about.

Dane said he had a great time at Paden’s tonight and really appreciated having Roger take him. He got to visit with people he hadn’t seen in a long time. He didn’t do well at poker, but it didn’t matter. He spent the evening with friends and had real chicken fried steak for dinner. Roger drove the Blue Canoe and anyone else who wants to take Dane for an outing is welcome to use it. We appreciate it a lot.

John and Jared from National Seating repaired Dane’s wheel chair today. I don’t think they enjoyed the drive from Wichita all that much, but I’m glad they came. They put a larger motor in it which should make it operate better. Dane’s charging the battery as he is going to Paden’s tonight for dinner and to play poker. Todd is going to check Roger out on the van so he’ll know how to load him and strap him down. Dane’s looking forward to having a night out.

Dane will be back here on Thursday and Ally is going to take him to the football game Friday night. At least, that’s the plan.

Dane was pleased about the acquisition of bumper stickers for the van. He drew the line at “Hillary” stickers. He was pretty adamant about it. I guess I can live with that. We should have a lot of rock band stickers by Friday. Ruby’s on a quest.

The day couldn’t be more beautiful. Brit took advantage of it and stained the bathroom deck. He did the front deck last week.

I chatted with my old friend Eddie Boyle today at the home. He was there visiting his friend George Grill. Eddie was my first playmate in Ellsworth when I was about six. He and I go back a long time.

8/28/2006

Panzer delivered his first-off-the-production line Jayhawk and Wildcat today. We have them by the front door. We hadn’t planned to buy a Wildcat, but then we thought of Drew and figured we had to have one to stand along side the Jayhawk. They are very nice and he should sell a bazillion of them.

The small statues run $35.00 a piece. The stepping stones are $18.00. Compared to others we’ve seen, I think they are nicer and less expensive.

You can find Panzer and his concrete yard art by his storage sheds on Old 40.

The blogs that show up for the week (without going into my archives) are often updated days after I post them. Please check, if you want to, to see if I’ve added to a blog you find of particular interest. Thanks…

This committee — with its impressive bipartisan strength and geographic breadth — should give encouragement to moderates fighting to take Kansas back from far right ideologues. Wempe’s campaign has opened an office at 121 West Main in Lyons (620-257-2213). A website has been developed. The campaign address is P.O. Box 54, Lyons, KS 67554.

This is by far and away the most impressive campaign organization for a state board candidate that RSR has seen. It represents a serious commitment by political leaders in District 7 to put public education in Kansas back on track.

Hi Peg,
Just wanted to let you know about the art blog Ken (KW to the Ellsworth gang) is doing on his website..a painting a day posted online. Tonight he posted some of his digital art of the beautiful Smoky Hills and it struck me that some of the hometown folks might like to see what he’s been up to. Ken Raney’s website
Sure enjoy your column!
Deb

“The Kansas Equality Coalition joins with the fair-minded people of Kansas to call for an immediate end to the increasingly violent acts of anti-gay discrimination against the owners of the Lakeway Hotel,” said Thomas Witt, chair of the Coalition’s state board.

The hotel, owned by JR and Robin Knight, has received national attention because they continue to fly a flag that symbolizes gay pride in spite of local opposition. The flag has drawn increasingly hostile reactions from local residents, including theft of the original flag, and profanity and hate speech-scrawled bricks thrown through a hotel window.

“We call on local law enforcement to take immediate steps to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the brick-throwing incident,” Witt said. “The anti-gay profanity written on the bricks demonstrates this is clearly a hate-crime, and we insist that it be treated as such.”

A letter containing bumper stickers arrived this morning from good friend, Sammy, and they are headed to the back of the Blue Canoe. It will be a great moving billboard.

Dane is on his way here. They couldn’t pick him up until later this morning so his time here will be limited. Unless someone stops in for lunch, I guess it will just be the three of us…although I have plenty for drop in’s. I just didn’t get around to calling anyone due to the uncertainty of his arrival time.

Tall Boy came by last night with a warm peach pie his mom had taken out of the oven. It was just about the best thing ever especially so since dinner around here was slim. There’s nothing better than one of Karen’s fresh peach pies…made with good Colorado peaches.

His message said it all.
“Goodbye, little dog,” Geoffrey Bayless scribbled on a card, offering condolences to the now nonexistent planet, Pluto.

On Sunday, the Ellsworth resident and his family attended activities and a briefing on Pluto, which recently was dumped by astronomers from the list of nine planets in the solar system, at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center…

What Pluto’s Demotion Can Teach Us About Science
“Rather than complain about Pluto’s demotion,” write Jeffry Mallow, a professor of physics, and Steven Lubet, a professor of law, “teachers should take this opportunity to educate their children about the scientific method, and how it forces scientists to keep an open mind. In a world of increasingly polarized opinions and dogmatic ‘truths,’ it is truly wonderful to see scientists engage in a process of open re-evaluation. Now, if we could only get politicians to do the same thing.”

8/27/2006

Linda and I hit the farmer’s market here yesterday morning where I gathered up a stash of tomatoes and cucs for the week. Caleb will have tomatoes next week along with watermelon, etc. The pineapple pie baker was sick, so… no pineapple pies this week.

We went to the farmer’s market in Salina. They had fresh sweet corn, some great homemade #8 the-hottest-ever salsa and Colorado peaches. They ran out of peaches here early last Wednesday so I missed out on them. I bought a case to share with Ally. That will be about the end of them for this season.

We stopped in Caper’s for coffee and bacon cheddar bagels. The line was long and endless but we persevered. It was worth it.

Little Miss Sunshine is just the funniest thing on the planet right now. The Art Cinema was full for the 2:00 showing yesterday and everyone was in stitches. Some woman with a shrill, boisterous, way-too-loud laugh sat behind me and never stopped her cackling. I bet she wet her pants! It is one very clever, hilarious movie. Just too funny. Go see it if you can. I’ll get it on Netflix eventually so Dane can see it too.

Here’s what they had to say about the movie: “Little Miss Sunshine is an American family road comedy that shatters the mold. Brazenly satirical and yet deeply human, the film introduces audiences to one of the most endearingly fractured families in recent cinema history. It takes a look at the rewards of being losers in a winning crazed culture. This Sundance Festival movie is filled with slapstick, wit, and laugh-out-loud humor of every stripe - high, low, rude, crude, smart, and dumb- Little Miss Sunshine is anarchic comedy with a bit of sentiment and a great deal of charm.”

Tall Boy and Ally had a great day in Salina yesterday car shopping. He has new wheels and is one happy young man. It will see him through his last year of high school and first four years in the Air Force. Ally was offered jobs at two dealerships…serious job offers. She knows more about cars than everyone else in the family put together. She sold them for many years, both new and used and hasn’t lost her touch when it comes to “dealing”.

Last night Rita came with her carload of needles to treat Dane’s pain. She stopped by here afterwards so we could visit and Sunshine and Ringo could play. We chatted as I cleaned three pounds of Holyrood’s Francis Hinton’s garlic. It’s good, easy to clean garlic. Ringo knows Sunshine’s name and just goes into a state of rapture at the sound of it.

Tall Boy came by to mow around the house. Brit did the pastures before the rain, but it wore him out. He’s way down on the downhill side of being able to do yard work. After a lifetime of mowing yards, it’s almost more than he can handle at age 80.

Pepsi-Cola was invented by a young pharmacist named Caleb Bradham in 1898. Originally called “Brad’s Drink,” the beverage was first marketed as a digestive aid and energy booster. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola because of its pepsin and kola nut content.